Master Epyon posted...
I think it's pretty silly to swear off a whole series because of one bad game, especially in this case
Oh no worries, I've played all the Metroids other than Prime Pinball, I survived Hunters and this, I'd definitely play the other ones when they come out. If they went back to the Prime style of gameplay I'd be jumping for joy.
Since I'm on a roll for Wii games, I'm trying to decide next if I should go with Super Paper Mario or Skyward Sword.
Since the first Metroid game I beat was Corruption, the image of a glum, melancholy Samus was more or less ingrained in my head due to that game's bonus ending (where she reflected on the death of those she killed) - this must obviously be different from the people who've been fans of the series for 20+ years or so who had the image of a "cold" Samus, who I never thought of.
I never even pictured Samus as "cold" all that much, just as a strong, independent female protagonist, which is something the games industry rarely has. Metroid Fusion goes heavily into some of her monologues and while she does talk about Adam Malkovich in that, it seems like she actually had good reason to believe that he was a good person, it doesn't make us question her judgment all that much if at all.
As for Samus being so submissive in this game, I never saw it as being that egregious (except from a gameplay viewpoint), mostly because, again, the first Metroid game I beat was Corruption, which also featured Samus essentially acting as a stickler for orders from a superior (and since I don't have much exposure to fiction outside of gaming, I don't see taking orders from a computer and taking orders from a man to be much different).
It's not even taking orders that I specifically hate. Samus could very well have worked under Adam and not have given me too much trouble, but the difference between Other M and Corruption is that in Corruption, when Admiral Dane from Corruption gives her orders he expects that she's going to use all of the abilities at her disposal. Adam Malkovich, on the other hand, denies Samus the ability to even defend herself properly, and with truly flimsy justifications. One of the first things Adam tells Samus establishes himself as a domineering personality, "You don't move until I say you, you don't fire until I say so." Whereas Admiral Dane was hiring a few bounty hunters to stop an intergalactic threat, Adam is essentially putting her back into military duty.
The way I see it, the events of the series from Super Metroid onwards are all the result of Samus's decision to disobey orders at the end of Metroid II, and since she knows it and she's kicking herself over it the whole game, she acts submissively because "disobeying orders is the whole reason why we're in this mess, so doing it again is not going to help". But yeah she is a mindless drone.
I also still have nightmares from back when Adam failed to authorize the Grapple Beam in time for me to save Mr. Higgs on my first playthrough (okay not really, but whenever people mention "authorization sucks", that comes to mind first thing).
The problem is that nothing in this game's plot is of much consequence, but it was clearly marketed otherwise and is clearly trying to be otherwise. ARGH!!!
Silly parallel:
Midna in Twilight Princess: "In exchange for my help, you'll have to do EXACTLY as I say."
Adam in Other M: "Don't move unless I say so, don't fire unless I say so."
Midna in TP: "You humans are obedient to a fault."
FORESHADOWING
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Currently Playing - StarCraft: Brood War